— talkable , adj. — talkability , n. — talker , n.
/tawk/ , v.i.
1. to communicate or exchange ideas, information, etc., by speaking: to talk about poetry.
2. to consult or confer: Talk with your adviser.
3. to spread a rumor or tell a confidence; gossip.
4. to chatter or prate.
5. to employ speech; perform the act of speaking: to talk very softly; to talk into a microphone.
6. to deliver a speech, lecture, etc.: The professor talked on the uses of comedy in the tragedies of Shakespeare.
7. to give or reveal confidential or incriminating information: After a long interrogation, the spy finally talked.
8. to communicate ideas by means other than speech, as by writing, signs, or signals.
9. Computers. to transmit data, as between computers or between a computer and a terminal.
10. to make sounds imitative or suggestive of speech.
v.t.
11. to express in words; utter: to talk sense.
12. to use (a specified language or idiom) in speaking or conversing: They talk French together for practice.
13. to discuss: to talk politics.
14. Informal. (used only in progressive tenses) to focus on; signify or mean; talk about: This isn't a question of a few hundred dollars - we're talking serious money.
15. to bring, put, drive, influence, etc., by talk: to talk a person to sleep; to talk a person into doing something.
16. talk around , to bring (someone) over to one's way of thinking; persuade: She sounded adamant over the phone, but I may still be able to talk her around.
17. talk at ,
a. to talk to in a manner that indicates that a response is not expected or wanted.
b. to direct remarks meant for one person to another person present; speak indirectly to.
18. talk away , to spend or consume (time) in talking: We talked away the tedious hours in the hospital.
19. talk back , to reply to a command, request, etc., in a rude or disrespectful manner: Her father never allowed them to talk back.
20. talk big , Informal. to speak boastingly; brag: He always talked big, but never amounted to anything.
21. talk down ,
a. to overwhelm by force of argument or by loud and persistent talking; subdue by talking.
b. to speak disparagingly of; belittle.
c. Also, talk in . to give instructions to by radio for a ground-controlled landing, esp. to a pilot who is unable to make a conventional landing because of snow, fog, etc.
22. talk down to , to speak condescendingly to; patronize: Children dislike adults who talk down to them.
23. talk of , to debate as a possibility; discuss: The two companies have been talking of a merger.
24. talk out ,
a. to talk until conversation is exhausted.
b. to attempt to reach a settlement or understanding by discussion: We arrived at a compromise by talking out the problem.
c. Brit. Politics. to thwart the passage of (a bill, motion, etc.) by prolonging discussion until the session of Parliament adjourns. Cf. filibuster (def. 5).
25. talk over ,
a. to weigh in conversation; consider; discuss.
b. to cause (someone) to change an opinion; convince by talking: He became an expert at talking people over to his views.
26. talk someone's head or ear off , to bore or weary someone by excessive talk; talk incessantly: All I wanted was a chance to read my book, but my seatmate talked my ear off.
27. talk to death ,
a. to impede or prevent the passage of (a bill) through filibustering.
b. to talk to incessantly or at great length.
28. talk up ,
a. to promote interest in; discuss enthusiastically.
b. to speak without hesitation; speak distinctly and openly: If you don't talk up now, you may not get another chance.
n.
29. the act of talking; speech; conversation, esp. of a familiar or informal kind.
30. an informal speech or lecture.
31. a conference or negotiating session: peace talks.
32. report or rumor; gossip: There is a lot of talk going around about her.
33. a subject or occasion of talking, esp. of gossip: Your wild escapades are the talk of the neighborhood.
34. mere empty speech: That's just a lot of talk.
35. a way of talking: a halting, lisping talk.
36. language, dialect, or lingo.
37. signs or sounds imitative or suggestive of speech, as the noise made by loose parts in a mechanism.
[ 1175-1225; ME talk ( i ) en to converse, speak, deriv. (with -k suffix) of tale speech, discourse, TALE; c. Fris (E dial.) talken ]
Syn. 1. See speak. 4, 33. prattle. 28. discourse. 30. colloquy, dialogue, parley, confabulation.